Israel rejected a five-year long-term ceasefire proposal by Hamas subject to pre-conditions such as the release of all remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday.
Confirmation was made by an Israeli official at a high rank who reported local media that the proposal had officially been rejected. "There were proposals by some Arab states, for instance, a five-year truce," the official told. "No possibility whatever exists of agreeing a 'hudna' (a temporary ceasefire) with Hamas whereby they just would have a chance to rest and rearm, and get on with their war against Israel all the more violently," quoted Xinhua news agency.
A senior Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya headed a Hamas delegation on Thursday that allegedly inked in Cairo an agreement by which all the Israeli hostages will be freed in return for a five-year peace agreement, a senior Egyptian security official stated.
The latest Israeli-Palestinian prisoner exchange was brokered under a ceasefire that started in January. But Israel terminated the truce in March after about two months and ramped up its fierce military offensive against Gaza.
As of Monday, Israeli airstrikes had killed 2,222 Palestinians and wounded 5,751 others in the past few weeks, Gaza health officials said. The Gaza death toll since the war started in October 2023 now stands at 52,314 and 117,792 were injured.
Israelis reported that 59 hostages remain in Gaza, and of those, 58 were taken hostage during the Hamas October 7 attack on southern Israel. At least 35 hostages who were thought to remain alive but now the Israeli army have presumed are dead.
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